September is always associated with a new beginning for me. New projects and work are already planned. I can't wait for tomorrow, but I enjoy the moment even more, which is just so simple, but at the same time full of elevated feeling. If someone asked me what happiness is, I would definitely know what to answer, and it definitely wouldn't be a career, money, success or anything like that. It would just be living and experiencing everything with unconditional gratitude for the opportunity to experience this life.
When the last days of the last month of summer began, I thought that it was the most beloved month of summer. It's like the end of a childhood vacation. June - you speed up, July - you lie relaxing in the sun, and in August you start running around just to get everything done: to see, sleep, taste, drive. We felt like summer was getting too short... The good thing is that summer comes back again and again… And even September has given us very warm summer weather, so I do not even feel summer is over already.
Every day has its own story, and the best ones are the ones we experience ourselves. The weather was still warm, so we thought about how to use our time productively - after we came home, we hadn't had time to do anything special, so our plan was to drive to Pakruojis mansion where the flowers and art festival was still going on and take a walk between beautiful flowers. It was the last day we could take part in. It was the second time we had driven there.
This year, it was the biggest and already sixth flower art and love festival. After we arrived to manor, we were greeted by impressive, 9meter-high flower arrangements made up of a bunch of flowers. There are not only millions of flowers spread, but also culture and entertainment, which include the festival guests themselves if only they want to participate in it. Our children mostly enjoyed acrobats walking the rope over the manor park and circus artists who delighted the little ones. It looks like the manor life never ceases to amaze everyone who comes.
The manor itself is an example of late classicism architecture. It is the largest preserved complex, consisting of 26 manor buildings in Lithuania. The oldest buildings of the manor are the tavern, distilleries and breweries. Most of the buildings in the ensemble are from the 18th century. Currently, flower events are held in the manor, and a hotel is established there.
The manor was drowning in millions of flowers all summer, offering visitors the largest concentration of their scents. Now, as autumn has come, it is closed, and is replaced by new manor events and celebrations, but we were not late to see still the extraordinary magic and grandeur of the flower gardens.
That day the weather was still hot, but as it was after a short rain, it gave the manor a special synthesis of sights and smells, so visiting the manor in the last days of summer was one of the best decisions. Looking from the outside, the festival looks like a game with nature: the beauty of the flower gardens depends on the weather and time. As this summer we had a mild climate, it gave the beauty of new blooming flowers every few days, and everyone who visits here feels an incredible play of smells and sights.
Those who come for the first time are struck by the utopian beauty and size of the floral compositions. We were there a second time, but still enjoyed the imagination and originality of the creators, because such flowery sculptures of Shakespeare's characters cannot be found anywhere else in the world.
We found the blossoms of Echinacea, Lavender, Cosmea, calendula, Celosia and Chinese Asters still blooming here in all their beauty, and therefore the views have captured our hearts. The comfortable Verbenas and prickly Cleomes also spread their aromas. And there are also the imposing amaranths, the queen of colors petunias... Wherever you look, there is great beauty!
I think ou agree with me that receiving flowers - whether it is a luxurious floristic work or a modest arrangement of wild flowers - includes a feeling of happiness. Walking through flower meadows and observing colorful flowers immediately releases happiness hormones in us.
Since ancient times, flowers have been associated with relief and a kind of rebirth for people. When they bloomed, after a tiring and exhausting winter, a period of abundance began. Today, we have enough food all year round, so we no longer consciously associate flowers with nutrition, but when a flower blooms and its natural aroma spreads, a special feeling still arises - the happiness hormone dopamine is released.
We observed a living miracle of nature. In addition to the carefully formed huge floral compositions, we saw the flowers unfolding from the sunlight right in front of our eyes. No less than the different colors of the flowers, their shapes and ornaments, we were surprised by the aromas emitted by the flower gardens, which made us gasp with admiration. Noses of visitors, close to the flowers, are a particularly common image there. We stopped by the lavender, smelled the aroma of echinacea, which made a good mood, and enjoyed the Monarda flowers, which attracts butterflies and bees with their scent.
Finally, we turned to the flowers, which are called the main highlights of this year's festival, and when we inhaled their aroma, we felt like a journey to ourselves, to our childhood or the lovely corners of childhood. We were surprised how many positive associations the scents of flowers and plants give.
The end of summer is always sad for me. But not the sadness that comes from disappointment, dissatisfaction, crushing lack, the feeling of emptiness. It is full of transparent sadness, which arises when remembering and reflecting on past moments and the joy experienced during them, closeness. Such serene sadness, arising from the realization of how quickly everything passes, becomes only heart-warming memories, is like a sign that that pastime was really meaningful, that you did not just pass it by, but fully live here and now.
At the same time, such sadness also serves as a warning for the work season, so that I do not drown in constant busyness, in lack of time, but always turn to what is most important. And the most important thing is usually not what seems most urgent.
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